Segregation or choice? That’s always the concern when one gender is over-represented in one occupation, like psychology and education, and under-represented in others, like physics.

But one other aspect must be considered. At the cutting edge of science, things are competitive and women who combine raising children with research are going to have a tougher time, according to new figures presented in the latest Woman and Science report which shows that over 60% of researchers (six out of ten men and seven out of ten women) consider combining scientific activity with looking after children very difficult.

It’s unlikely any society can ever have true balance in every field but if women are only highly represented in certain fields, like biology and medicine, there will be a search for reasons.